Kernel Cob And Little Miss Sweetclover eBook

It’s
quite as easy to be good
And
kind to all, as children should,
For
grown-ups never give you toys
If
you are naughty girls and boys.

Besides,
if you do what is right
Your
mother kisses you at night,
And
who could sleep in peaceful bliss
Without
a mother’s good-night kiss?

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XX

And Jackie Tar had found a little compass on the ship,
and this he had put in his pocket, for said he:

“You can never tell when you may be lost around
the North Pole.”

So they went ashore and, after Jackie had taken his
bearings with his compass to see which way to go,
they set out to walk to the North Pole.

And after they had walked for hours and hours, they
saw a little bear, which is called a cub.

“I wonder if he is a tame bear,” said
Sweetclover.

And Kernel Cob went up to him as brave as you please
and put out his hand to the bear and said:

“Hello, Teddy!” but the bear growled and
showed his teeth.

“Don’t start anything like that,”
said Kernel Cob, “unless you want to get hurt.”

“Well, don’t you call me names,”
said the Cub.

“Who’s calling you names?” asked
Kernel Cob.

“You are,” said the Cub.

“What name did I call you?” asked Kernel
Cob.

“Would you like to be called after a make-believe
bear if you were a real one?” asked the Cub.

“No, I guess not,” said Kernel Cob.

“Well then,” said the Cub.

“Excuse me,” said Kernel Cob, for he liked
to see anybody who had spunk.

And they shook hands and were friends at once.

“Who are you?” asked the Cub, “and
what are you doing up here?”

“I’m Kernel Cob,” said he, “and
this is Sweetclover and Jackie Tar,” and the
cub came forward and shook hands with them, and really
he had very nice manners for a bear who lived so far
away from nice people and things.

“You haven’t told me what you are doing
way up here.”

“We’re looking for Jackie and Peggs’
motheranfather,” answered Kernel Cob, “and
we believe they are up here near the North Pole.
Are we far away from it?”

“About a hundred miles or so,” said Wak
Wak, for that was the cub’s name.

“Goodness,” said Sweetclover, “how
are we ever going to walk so far in this dreadful
cold.”

“If you’ll come to my cubby hole,”
said Wak Wak, “we can sit down and talk it over.
It’s not far.” So they came to his
cubby hole, they went inside and it was nice and warm
and comfortable.

“You must stay the night with me,” he
said.

So he covered them over with some pieces of fur and
they all went to sleep.

But, in the middle of the night, they were awakened
by loud yelping, and running to the doorway of the
hole they saw thousands and thousands of what looked
like little lanterns dancing on the ice.